2011 WWE Basktetball Finals: The numbers do lie, Points in the taint

Through four games of the 2011 WWE Basketball Finals, the Dallas Mavericks have shot 21 more free throws than the Miami Heat. The Phil Jackson approach to such numbers would be to think that the Mavericks are getting the benefits of the calls. That would be a fallacious approach to the matter (as was generally the case in Phil's history). Not all teams were created equal.

Let us consider why the Mavs should get to the free throw line more often than the Heat.

The Mavs size advantage

The Dallas Mavericks have three seven footers (Dirk Nowitzky, Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood) who offensively perform on the low post. The Miami Heat have none. The closest thing they have to a low post presence is Chris Bosh, who is really a high post player and has no intention of consistently bodying up the Dallas bigs. For that matter, he has no intention of rough housing with anybody's bigs. Shaq knew what he was saying when he called Bosh the Rupaul of Big Men (Oh and special shout-out to the RealGM.com a-hole mods  who thought it was cool to censor any and all conversation on that matter).

It's also noteworthy that the Heat would much rather see Haywood (the league's worst free throw shooter) on the line rather than shooting chippies. They will foul him on purpose and if the refs conveniently miss the call, all the better.

Mavs are ready for the James and Wade drives (and they do not need to foul)

It is true that Miami Heat stars Lebron James and Dwyane Wade can consistently use their quickness to get into the lane. But when it happens, the Dallas defense is geared to have helpers prevent easy lay-ups and dunks by those players. Of course that will leave somebody open, but let's face facts, the Miami role players are not inspiring fear in anybody. 

The strategy is clearly to force the role players to make open shots or force James and Wade into bad shots. It's a solid strategy, but some of it is negated when interficials look for any excuse to turn a non-foul into a foul.

How often in this series have you seen Wade and James get easy driving non fast break lay-ups and dunks? You could probably count them on one hand.

There is just rarely a need to foul James and Wade. That fact is reflected in Game 1. In that game James and Wade shot a combined 7 free throws. 

When David Stern inserted his Company Man Dream Team of Joey Crawford, Ken Mauer and Ed Malloy for Game 2, they called enough pretend fouls to put Wade himself on the line 12 times. The Heat went to the line 24 times that game to the Mavs 21.

Mavs have more players that frequently get to the rim

Besides James and Wade, who gets to the rim for Miami? That's right, nobody! On the Mavs side you have Dirk, Chandler, Haywood, Marion, Barea and even Terry. Even a player like Kidd is going to penetrate the lane more consistently then any third player on the Heat. 

Essentially, foul shots are the result of getting to the basket and the other team not wanting to give up an easy basket. In a fairly officiated game it is unlikely that the Mavericks would have less than a ten free throw surplus.

***

It is all about Points In The Taint

During last year's WWE Basketball Finals between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers it was obvious just how many ways that the interficials could decipher the outcome. Shots Heard had to make up a term to describe it. That term was and is 'points in the taint.'

The Lakers won the points in the taint battle and their series clinching play was even a points in the taint play (Gasol landing/traveling before making his series clinching shot).

Back in the days of yore, teams that won the points in the paint match-up usually won the game. In today's NBA, teams like the Miami Heat (who have no low post presence) win games and series by winning the points in the taint battle.

Points in the taint comes in many fashions. It can come by the interficials allowing the Heat to bang against the Mavs on one end and calling touch fouls on the Mavs at the other end. That is actually the best way for the interficials to have an impact on the game. The cumulative effect of calling a game in that manner can turn a 20 point blow-out by the Mavs into a 4 point win for the Heat. This is a very under-rated tactic. And the best part for the interficials, is that there is no signature play that points towards unfairness or corruption.

Missed calls count too. At one point in Game 2, Wade dunked an offensive rebound into the hoop while it was easily over the cylinder.

Last but not least - more and more officials are using technical fouls to deflate a team's morale. On two occasions, the interficials have hit Mavs coach Rick Carlisle with a bogus technical foul. Both times, the refs made a bad call that was civilly objected by Carlisle. Yet, the interficials added insult to insult by t'ing him up. During the first such instance, announcer Jeff Van Gundy said he monitored the entire interaction and found absolutely no wrong doing (including cussing) by Carlisle.

In the previous three five game series, the Miami Heat out shot their opponents from the free throw line by about 50 free throws per series. Given how 'soft' the Miami Heat really are, that's a mind boggling stat.

The discrepancy was so profound that before the series even began, James and Wade were bragging about the touch fouls on drives being a part of their team's model for success. As a fan that watches that type of crap unfold, I'm sickened. It's like a victim having to hear his assaulter brag about the crime after the fact. And yes, the state of NBA officiating is a crime to the senses (and likely a real crime that has yet to go prosecuted).

Make no mistake. The Mavs have a free throw surplus, but the Heat are winning points in the taint. With each of the last (potential) three games being so much more critical we can only expect the points in the taint advantage to be more profound.

If the Mavs play their A game like they did against the Lakers, they willl win the series regardless of points in the taint. The same concept held true for the Celtics when they played the Heat. They were the better team on paper. But a tired team playing their C game lost that series in 5.

If the Mavs play their C game like they have been, they will lose this series. 

If the Mavs play their B game, anything can happen, assuming the Heat don't bring their A game. But so-so jump shooting teams rarely bring their A-game. And the Heat's A game is only an A if good shooting is combined with good defense that leads to fast break points. That is a rare combination for the Miami Heat who are essentially a two and a half man team.

Either way, expect points in the taint to have a major impact on the conclusion of this series.

Picture 1: Eric Spoelstra and Dwyane Wade tell Joey Crawford how he can be a better interficial. Seriously, why do the officials insist on conferencing with the 'stars?' It's to make sure they are content and have reached their star call quota.

Picture 2: How often do we see it? Wade goes in for a lay-up free and clear, grazes against a finger and a ref blows his whistle for the and one. Sickening!

Picture 3: You won't catch Crawford sharing intimate looks with the 'mid market' team's players like he does with Dwyane Wade.

The check is in the mail Joey Crawford - David Stern gets his way

The refereeing in the 2010 NBA Finals was putrid. I almost felt silly having to come up with terms like 'points in the taint and 'interficials' to explain the officials' impact on games. But they were accurate terms and they were terms that reciprocated David Stern's lack of respect for serious basketball fans.

Joey Crawford had a history of bad calls (and in pivotal games). He has faced intense scrutiny from disgruntled fans and media members. But that was not going to stop David Stern from plugging him in as the lead referee for Game 1 (opening game), Game 5 (pivotal game) and Game 7 (the deciding game). Is he really that much better than the other referees?

The interficials took their warm-ups off and got into the game in the fourth quarter of Game 7. And that was the difference with all due respect to the crucial three that Ron Artest made late in the fourth quarter.

The first two quarters were about as fairly officiated as the Celtics were going to get this series. The Celtics had a few calls not go their way and perhaps that helped the Lakers to still be in the game at halftime, despite the Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant shooting a combined 6 for 26. But the officiating was not attrocious even through the first three quarters and I was willing to call it a fair (enough) game had the officiating continued to hold up. At least the interficials were not calling silly fouls and putting people in needless foul trouble in a deciding game. There was at least two bailouts where Kobe just missed and the refs gave him free throws. But again, I was just happy that the officiating was not as atrocious as the first six games.

But the interficials stepped up big for the Lakers in the fourth quarter. On the very first play of the quarter, Pau Gasol went across the lane and made a shot. There was no foul and the refs gave him the and one (which he missed).

Late in the game, up 74-70 with a minute and a half left, Gasol went up for a shot and the defense was great and forced him not to shoot until his foot came down. But there was no travel called despite the obvious nature of the call.

The Celtics defense was great all night long. Down 76-79 late, they forced Bryant into a long three. Gasol was allowed to push off of Rondo's face as they both went for the ball. The play was big. Kobe got the ball back, took it to the rim. I have not seen a replay but I suspect that a fake foul was called on Rasheed Wallace. In any event it beats the time tested philosophy of not allowing the officials to decide the outcome. But Joey Crawford was more than happy to decide it!

The play was huge. It gave LA two points and it took away a possession for the Celtics to tie the game and force overtime.

But the Celtics still came back. Rajon Rondo hit a three after hustling to get an offensive rebound on what would have been Ray Allen's second three in a row. And it looked like they would have a chance to tie or win Game 7 when Rondo hit the ball away from Kobe! But Kobe was allowed to push off on Rondo as he went for the ball! There were two interficials standing there looking at the play. Joey Crawford looked at the play from straight down the line and refused to call the foul! That is literally two plays in the final seconds that the interficials helped the Lakers! Like I said all series long, the Celtics were playing five on eight. The Celtics would have likely won it in five game with fair officiating!

Most pundits will call the game 'classic.' But trust me, that is the equivalent of calling a rusted out 55 Chevy that no longer runs, classic. Sure it was the Celtics and Lakers. Sure the players put forth great effort. And sure it was Game 7 (though the league had to rig that). But there is nothing classic about David Stern handpicking officials each game of the playoffs to make sure he gets the results he wants. That is not classic where I come from.

Mark my words. Some day there will be a big scandal involving David Stern and/or Joey Crawford. Until then I'll have to settle for being called a conspiracy theorist or what have you. But like I said before, I have two eyes and a brain. I see what is going on. I see the smoke. When will we see the fire? How many untold victims are there in the meantime?

Joey Crawford ran off the court as soon as the finals ended. Cowards always run. Besides, why would he risk cracking a smile for the camera? Stern got what he wanted. The league is richer when his Lakers win and even richer when they do it in seven games over the Celtics.

2010 NBA Finals Game 6: Celtics will have to overcome the Lakers points in the taint

The league (NBA)  heard the heavy criticism. Joey Crawford heard the criticism. The interficials were calling too many fouls in the first three games. But if you look at Game 5, particularly the fourth quarter of Game 5, you will see that there is more than one way for the Lakers to win the points in the taint. The calls that are not made can be every bit as important as the fallacious calls that are made.

The Boston Celtics had outscored the Los Angeles Lakers in each of the three quarters. They had even weathered Kobe Bryant's third quarter outburst (19 points). But an eight point lead is just a cause for the interficials to go into overdrive and put their stamp on the game. 

4th Quarter Breakdown of Game 5

At the 11:11 mark with the Lakers down 67-73, Pau Gasol drove into the lane and threw his body into his defender before throwing it into the back court for a violation. I personally was shocked that the interficials did not manufacture a foul. But that is the type of call I expect the interficials to waive their wands and make in Game 6. Seriously, just give these interficials wands. Because they are just making stuff up like it was magic on so many plays.

At the 10:10 mark, down 67-76, Kobe buried his forearm into Tony Allen and drove. Allen did not reciprocate any contact (appear to foul), slid his feet and made Kobe make a running fade away jump shot. It was the forearm that allowed Kobe to get the space. On many plays he is allowed two, three, four elbows and forearms to make sure he gets his play. The interficials call it once in a blue moon so that they can appear to have control on that matter. (It is always sad to see the L.A. fans and media marvel that Kobe got into foul trouble like in Game 2).

It is noteworthy that Kobe went back on defense and petitioned Crawford for a foul on the play even though there was no foul! I won't go into that game within the game though.

Pierce had 26 points through three quarters but he was not going to get the 'star calls' to finish the game. He would not even get the calls that should be made in any scenario. The interficials would not be denied their impact. At the 9:00 mark, up 78-69, Pierce went to the baseline against Bryant's defense. Kobe fell for a pump fake and went into Pierce's rightful shooting space. Kobe pulled a classic Bill Laimbeer (What? I didn't foul?) undercut, cutting his legs but keeping his arms up as though his body had no impact. Pierce took the foul, missed the shot. Two points in the taint for the Lakers.

Up 81-73 (6:11), Pierce drove to the hoop, got all the way to the tin and besides Bynum's late ditch attempt to stop the shot, it was essentially an uncontested lay-up. Bynum came over and hit Pierce's arm. I noticed that in game speed. On the replay of the game (naturally there was no replay during the game), I saw that Bynum got him with the body. And Bynum was in the circle too. It was a trifecta foul. But Crawford ignored it and the ball squirted off of the rim. 

On the very next possession, Ron Artest missed a three pointer. On the offensive rebound, Lamar Odom pushed off of Kevin Garnett. So not only did Odom gain a rebound on the possession, but when he got the ball, he had a wide open eight foot chip shot, which he made. It was a four points in the taint swing! The interficials would not appear to be not calling that call. They called a push-off foul against Gasol at the 9:21 mark. Right? No. The Odom foul was clear as day. Kenny Smith might go so far as to call it a 100 percent call.

Heading into the last two minutes, the interficials were likely disappointed that the Lakers had just not showed up to play. They had given them plenty of tainted calls and tainted no-calls. But they clearly keeping their points in the taint down. They wanted to guard against the perception that they were influencing the game. But like a little kid needs a push to get going on a swing, so did the Lakers need a gift. Down 79-87, Kobe put a forearm into Ray Allen to create space on a screen. Ray Allen countered by putting his arm lightly into Kobe's back (for but a brief moment). Kobe continued through his run and hoisted a wild three attempt with Allen not contesting it. He did not want to relive the agony of Game 4 in which the interficials gave Kobe three controversial late free throws. But Crawford would not be denied and made perhaps the signature interficial call of the championship series (to this point).

On the next possession, up only five now (87-82), the Celtics used all of the play clock. At the last second Ray Allen got open for a three on the right side. Kobe came from the top of of the key three area and raked Allen on the arm as he shot the ball. Jeff Van Gundy yelped how the ball was not even close to going in while ignoring Kobe's swipe on Allen's arm. But the call was not made. Six points in the taint in 25 seconds! Do you see how easy it is for the interficials to make their presence felt?

Crawford gives the Lakers a jump ball that they never had any business getting

At the 46 second mark with the score still 87-82, there was a jump ball between the 7'0" Kevin Garnett and the 6'1" Derrick Fisher. It was reminiscent of an earlier jump ball in the series between the 7'1" Pau Gasol and the 5'9" Nate Robinson. The one very notable difference would be that Robinson is a three time dunk champion and has mad ups. Jeff Van Gundy called Robinson to win the jump. Mark Jackson called him crazy and Gasol easily won the jump. 

KG does not have the explosion he once did, but Fisher can barely dunk the ball (if he still can). Fisher has a few years on KG for that matter. But conspicuously Fisher won the tip. Also conspicuous, was the lack of a replay.

If you examine Crawford's technique, you will see the subtle things he did to make hit happen. All but the left half of his foot are on Fisher's side. First he throw his left hand in the face of KG as to distract him. It did not work and for the life of me I do not know what Crawford was pretending to regulate. There was a lane position issue with Ray Allen and Lamar Odom that had been resolved. They were no longer jockeying for position, so it was not that. He was actually talking to Pierce who had both arms up with Artest being illegally allowed to intrude on his space. But Crawford's distraction did not seem to break KG's focus. It was merely an attempt to leverage his position of power against KG.

Next, Crawford did not seem to wait for both players to brace themselves. After putting his hand into KG's line of sight, he only shot Fisher a look to indicate that the tip was coming.

Then instead of holding the ball out for both players to have the ball in their vision, Crawford shot the ball from his right hip. THAT IS NOT HOW OFFICIALS ARE TAUGHT TO THROW JUMP BALLS. That is merely how interficials throw jump balls! Officials are taught to place the ball evenly between the players and throw it straight up when both players are ready.

You will noticed that Crawford does not throw the ball from an equidistant position between KG and Fisher. Only the tip of Crawford's left foot is on KG's side so that when Crawford throws the ball up, even if he appears to throw it straight up, it is already going to be six to eight inches on Fisher's side! The ball did seem to end up eight to ten inches on Fisher's side!

But besides the corrupt throw, the final slap to the face comes via the fact that Fisher hits the ball as it is still going up! That is a clear violation!

I was kicking myself when I saw Crawford would throw the ball. You could have offered me a two to one odds on KG and I would not have taken that bet! The fact that KG was much taller, merely gave me hope that even Crawford could not interficiate on this one. My hope was destroyed!

Game 6 and Game 7 (if played) will be strongly interficiated 

Celtics fans, if those unscrupulous dealings of Crawford in the 4th quarter makes your blood boil then you have not seen anything yet! Expect the worst! Perhaps we will see Rondo commit a foul with his face against Bryant's elbow like we saw in 2002 with Mike Bibby. 


Especially in the case of Game 6 expect the interficials to do their worst! The league desperately wants a Game 7. Even the established media has no shame coyly stating that all of the calls will be going the Lakers way. How bad will it be? It might compete with May 31, 2002.


The Game 6 Interficials announced



Joe Derosa (Game 1), Monty McCutchen (Game 2) and Ken Mauer will interficiate Game 6. It is noteworthy that none of the May 31, 2002 interficials (Dick Bavetta, Ted Bernhardt and Bob Delaney) have not yet interficiated this series.


A Solid Watch (Warning Explicit Lyrics) - Kobe Bryant - A notoriously dirty player

The Celtics look to overcome the Lakers points in the taint advantage and the sniper's smoking gun

The 2010 NBA Finals have been so terribly officiated (and 'wonderfully interficiated') that the Elias Sports Bureau should create a new statistic. It would be called points in the taint. The statistic would measure points given or taken away from teams due to terrible officiating. I personally am getting annoyed by hearing that the team that wins the rebounding battle wins the game. That is a stat that generally goes to the winning team. But we all know this series is not about rebounding. This is the worst officiated series in league history.

The Boston Celtics are clearly better than the Los Angeles Lakers. They go nine deep while the Lakers try to play one on five. That formula (along with the interficials in their corner) may have worked against the inexperienced OKC Thunder, injured Utah Jazz and the soft Phoenix Suns; but they are playing the Boston Celtics now, a championship pedigreed team that takes care of the business on both sides of the ball.

Essentially the inept 2008 Lakers are playing a much improved version of the 2008 Boston Celtics. I am talking about the same 2008 Lakers that lost to the Celtics 131-92 in the final game of that series. I realize that games are not won on paper, but this is not merely a paper argument. The Boston Celtics have looked much better than their counterparts throughout this finals. The league knew that the Lakers did not match-up well with the Celtics going into the series, so they went about circumventing fair play. It's "the ole reach around," as Gob Bluth would call it.

Sadly, the Celtics main nemesis in this series has not been the Lakers, with all due respect to Kobe's masterful individual performances (at times). The Celtics nemesis has been the officials. The league was so desperate to give the Lakers a kick-start in this series that they put Joey Crawford (the greatest interficial of all-time) to work right away (Bob Delaney might argue that). The terrible officiating continued throughout the first three games. But the Celtics overcame it in Game 2 thanks to the hot shooting of Ray Allen. Ironically they did not overcome the interficiating of Game 3 due to the cold shooting of Ray Allen.

After three games, it was infuriating to realize that NBA corruption prohibited the Celtics from being up 2-1 or probably 3-0 in the series. It was just flat out sickening that the Los Angeles Lakers title and their subsequent propensity to draw ratings was valued so greatly that the NBA would dishonor the game and cheat. Yes, I am using the c-word. I have no proof besides my eyes. I do not have the smoking gun, but I do know that where there is smoke there is fire. If I woke up strapped to an electric chair, I would not be overly concerned with wondering who did it and when, I'd just know that it happened.

Game Four was more of the same. Although, with the Celtics down two games to one, the league ratcheted down the bad calls and we probably had about the closest thing to a fair game that we will see this entire series. Referring to the bad officiating in the first three games, Charles Barkley said, "this was the first game (Game 4) that was like a game." Still, Kenny Smith reviewed four Game 4 calls that went against the Celtics that were call incorrectly. Smith called them 'one hundred percent calls,' meaning that there was no excuse for the blown calls. But even his analysis disregarded many other bad calls in that game.

Game Five was a joke. I am not referring to the bad officiating. Although there were plenty of bad calls, it was not nearly as poorly officiated as the first three games in which the league felt compelled to give the Celtics a handicap. What was particularly sad about the game is how it symbolized the NBA's complete and udder disregard for the fans. 

Joey Crawford was the lead interficial. Does David Stern think that the average NBA fan is a peon? Let's assume he does and that he thinks he is getting away with something on that level. He would still have to believe that a certain segment of the audience has some moral fiber and reasonable intelligence and he is basically bitch slapping them. I feel so strongly about this issue that I am willing to use the b-word for the first time in this website's history. Stern has no respect for his audience to be using the most controversial active interficial of all-time in the most pivotal NBA game in years! To counter the protests of fans, he loves to go with the logic that if he has nothing to be ashamed of then he can do what he wants. But we all know that is a boat load of dung and that he thinks we should accept his cheating as long as the smoking gun is nowhere to be found.

In Game 5, Crawford made a large amount of bad calls that went in the Lakers favor. The Lakers went to the free throw line 26 times while the Celtics went to the line 13 times despite the fact that the Celtics were the more aggressive team. Pierce who was the Celtics point man for the attack went to the line all of two times. Derrick Fisher barely touched the ball all night and he went to the line five times. But once a series is tied two to two the interficials generally keeps the interficiating to a relative minimum and Game 5 was still tame compared to the first three games. It is Game 6 that the league will be willing to commit a higher volume of egregious calls in an effort to force a Game 7 and make millions of dollars.

Still, there was a Game 5 call that symbolizes the great lengths that the officials will go to keep a game close and build the drama (and ratings). Ahead 92-83 and with the game in check, the Celtics played wonderful defense on Kobe Bryant. Bryant went around a screen and hoisted a fade away three that had no chance of going in. It was reminiscent of the Lakers chances of winning a fairly officiated series. Crawford called a foul on Ray Allen. The call was made despite the fact that Allen was called for a controversial call on a similar play in Game 4. This time, Allen reigned himself in so that as Jeff Vangundy said, "he did not even appear to foul." But Crawford had no problem just making a call completely up.

So the Boston Celtics head back to Los Angeles to try and close out the series (up 3-2). They must be bitter about the fact that the interficials prevented them from winning the championship in front of their hometown fans. They must lament the fact that were it not for the interficials, they could have stamped their supremacy with a sweep. They must dread the fact that they know they have to play five on eight in a hostile environment to win a trophy that they already should possess.

Mister Stern. You can hide but we know what you are doing. You could not even find the audacity to give one of your patented six figure fines to the Boston Celtics owner when he confronted you after Game 3 and told you how you should be embarrassed by the terrible officiating. 

In the immortal words of 'Animal House,' "Hold my mount mister. Mister hold my mount." I only want to reciprocate your actions.

As for Crawford. He could not pull of the victory. But give him credit. He did his best to get the Lakers a victory on a night in which the Celtics shot 56 percent and the Lakers shot 39 percent (FGs).

The following Tainted Love videos are dedicated to David Stern and his hired goons:

This article is dedicated to Lakers fans that think this series is on the up and up. You are enablers.